September Housing Starts in New Brunswick

MONCTON, NB, Oct. 8 - According to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's (CMHC's) preliminary data(1) released today, residential construction in September produced a total of 243 starts in New Brunswick's urban centres compared to 355 units during the same period last year.

"The decline in residential housing starts in September was not unexpected as it followed the trend of fewer singles and multiples throughout most of 2009," said Claude Gautreau, CMHC's senior market analyst for New Brunswick. A total of 64 multiple starts were recorded in September of this year, down 63 per cent from the 172 units recorded during the same month in 2008. The year-to-date total after the first nine months of the year was down 17 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Meanwhile, single starts in provincial urban centres were comparable to last year with a 2 per cent decline to 179 units in September. Year-to-date, single starts were down 22 per cent to 978 units. "The pace of decline in housing starts observed during the first three quarters of the year will likely be maintained to the end of the year," continued Gautreau.

In urban centres across Canada, total housing starts in September declined by 26 per cent, down to 13,024 units compared to last year's total of 17,661. Single-detached starts were up 7 per cent to 6,741 units, while multiple unit starts were down 45 per cent from 11,352 units last year to 6,283 units this year. In the Atlantic region, 970 new units were started in September 2009 compared to 1,030 units during the same period in 2008.

As Canada's national housing agency, CMHC draws on more than 60 years of experience to help Canadians access a variety of quality, environmentally sustainable and affordable homes. CMHC also provides reliable, impartial and up-to-date housing market reports, analysis and knowledge to support and assist consumers and the housing industry in making vital decisions.

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(1) Figures for the most recent month are preliminary and subject to
revisions due to corrections or updates from quarterly enumeration or
sampling results.
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